A Brief Update and Possible Hiatus

I’m not really sure how to write an intro for a post like this, so I’ll just get straight to the point.

Last week I created a loose posting schedule to start using in preparation for school starting again in August. I know this current school year isn’t over yet, but I want to be as prepared as possible. If everything works in my favor, next year I’ll be part of an ACT prep and college group, which will take up a lot of time. My goal was to adjust to the posting schedule before that happened.

The schedule would have me posting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. I was going to write a post this morning because it’s Wednesday, in the US at least. In a way, it worked out, as I will get something posted today… just not what I had planned.

I have tons of ideas for posts, mostly bookish but a few about life and other things. Ideas aren’t a problem. My problem seems to be actually writing. On Monday, I was able to overcome it, but not today. I was trying to write a discussion post and just didn’t like anything I wrote. I rewrote and rewrote, but deleted more than I progressed. Finally I saved the draft and decided to come back to it tomorrow, but now hours later I’m dreading trying to write again. It feels impossible.

Blogging is a lot of fun for me, and I want it to stay that way. A hobby should never feel like a chore. I wouldn’t say that writing posts feels like a chore, because I have ideas I want to talk about and books I want to obsess over. I want to write, but I honestly feel like I’ve gotten blogger’s block. I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but I’ll go with it anyway.

I don’t know what’s causing it. It’s happened on and off over the course of 2017 so far, but I’ve been able to get over it with few issues. Today I just couldn’t. The best way I can describe it is that I’ve got ideas for posts, but I don’t have the inspiration to write them. I’ve been losing inspiration for other things lately, as well. My photography and therefore my Instagram posting has been increasingly sporadic, because I don’t have inspiration for pictures. I think now my blogging inspiration is decreasing too.

The only reason I can think of is that for slightly over a month now, I’ve had to write one thing per week. My position as a staff writer for Affinity Magazine requires it, and in recent weeks my articles have been submitted closer and closer to the Friday deadline. I love writing articles and seeing them published, but having a legitimate deadline that I didn’t give myself is presenting a new kind of stress. I don’t believe this is causing my loss of inspiration, as it’s been building up since before I even applied to be a writer, but I think it’s definitely playing a part.

Basically, all of this rambling is leading up to what the title says: I might be taking a break. I don’t know for sure yet. To be honest, it depends how I feel on Friday, when I would normally write another post. If I can write something I’m happy with, posting should carry on as usual. If not, I wanted to make sure you all had some sort of warning/explanation before I left for a little while.

Another factor is a buildup of personal/emotional issues. A couple of weeks ago I was telling myself it would be better once spring break came, but now it’s close to half over and I don’t feel any better. Nothing is wrong for me or my family. Everything I might worry about is okay, so there’s no need for these things I’m feeling. Honestly, I don’t know what it is. But between my sudden loss of inspiration and whatever this may be, I don’t know if I’ll be posting regularly for a bit.

Note: if I do end up taking a break, I’ll still be active on social media and replying to comments here, just not actually posting.

I’m going to wrap this up now, because I thought it would be brief but it’s currently at 700 words.

The last thing I want to say is that if any of you have read the Vampire Academy series, you should definitely get the 10th anniversary edition. It has four novellas in the back, about 150 pages of exclusive snippets and fun things, and I devoured them all in one night. I especially encourage you read them if you want to know more about other characters. I loved them all (referring to the novellas) so much. 😀

Okay, I promise this is the last thing. I started reading This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab this morning, after giving up on writing that post. I’m still on part one, about 70 pages in, but it’s good so far. That should make those of you that have wanted me to read it (*cough* ERIKA *cough*) happy. 😛

Thanks in advance for understanding. I’m off to continue reading This Savage Song, and hopefully I’ll be back with a post on Friday. I hope you all have a fabulous day/night. ❤

I’ll be missing reading your posts in my blog feeds, but I don’t want to stop you if you’re going to need it. It would be better if you’re writing when you actually feel happy to write, rather than continuously writing posts that you aren’t really into-nor don’t want to write. We all most definitely support our decision! 🙂

I completely understand where you’re coming from. Sometimes, a break from one of your hobbies is the best choice, especially if you would like to keep it as a hobby instead of turning it into some chore or obligation, that which it is not! We’ll miss you over here on the blogosphere if you do decide to take a break, but I hope everything settles for you soon! Good luck with your writing and reading! 😀

Do whatever you have to! Breaks are good. I take mini-breaks here and there. None of them require me to let people know because it’ll just be a few days to maybe a week and a half. But those short breaks help a lot!